"Using the September numbers as a guide to holiday performance is challenging, not least because of the various exceptional factors which have impacted the month," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

"However, stripping these out suggests that the consumer is in a good and stable position which bodes well for the critical upcoming trading period."

Inflation figures from the Labor Department showed consumer prices rose 0.5% in September, while the year-on-year rate rose to 2.2%.

Shares in Wells Fargo slid 3% after its latest results. Third quarter net income fell 18% to $4.6bn after the bank took a $1bn charge to cover investigations into its mortgage underwriting practices before the 2008 financial crisis.